Captain,

Write us a book about what went wrong with the domestic auto industry.

You know a lot about the auto industry so in the first chapter please
explain the Chevrolet SSR.

In the second chapter please explain the Ford Thunderbird and Ford GT that
where expected to only sell a few vehicles and lose half a billion dollars
in development costs.

In the third chapter explain the 154 IQ Wharton degree 15 million dollar per
year executive who unleashed the Aztech on the world.

In the fourth chapter tell us why GM dabbled in diesel and electric cars and
then dumped them.

In the fifth chapter tell us why Chrysler and Ford never dabbled in diesel
cars even though they had no qualms about diesel trucks.

For a big finish explain why the Japanese and Germans and Koreans could
build a 4/5 passenger car that would sell for less than 20K and get more
than 30 MPG and last for more than 300,000 miles without a major rebuild.

Something went very wrong in the domestic auto industry. It was not one
person or one vehicle or one factor. You are qualified to sit down and give
it a good long think and write a good long book.

Do us a solid and think it out and write us a book. It will be a best
seller for sure.

On Oct 6, 7:05*am, "RickyBobby" <nasca... (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote:
what japanese car car you talking about that lasts 300,000 miles? last
time i checked on most cars don't get too far past 200,000 miles
domestic or import, unless it's a diesel then it isn't unreasonable to
expect it to approach 5 or 600,000 miles with basic care

Fish wrote:
Not many people use 4cyl petrol engine cars for commercial purposes so would
rarely get over 200,000 in a lifetime, but there are commercial vehicles
that probably regularly clock up 300+ I'd say. Not sure what they are called
in North America, but HiAce vans and HiLux utes come to mind.

And I hope whatever cars they use for taxis up there can do 300+?

--
Chad

"Chad" <cbstun (AT) safemail (DOT) com> wrote

Dodge/Chrysler minivans go well past 300,000 miles and still run like a top.
Dodge/Chrysler sedans are all ragged out by around the 200,000 mile range
and they get scrapped. Ford Crown Victorias that are converted to propane
when they are new go past 500,000 miles because the company that owns them
does not want to give up on them. It is a matter of maintenance when it
comes to commerical vehicles, such as taxicabs. You can change out parts
just about forever if that is your intention.

When it comes to personal vehicles I would guess that the lifespan is up
until the time the next repair would cost as much or more than the vehicle
is presumed to be worth.

On Oct 6, 2:06*pm, "RickyBobby" <nasca... (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote:
In 1998, I purchased a new Subaru Forester. At the time, I was in
outside sales, and racked up 249,000 miles on the car by 2006. At that
time, I purchased a new Toyota, and gave the Subie to my daughter. It
now has 278,000 miles on it, and I fully expect it to go 300,000.

Fish wrote:
I had an '83 Celica that I put 250,000 on before I sold it. Wasn't using
any oil. The transmission had to be replaced once, but the engine was fine.

"george9219" wrote

In 1998, I purchased a new Subaru Forester. At the time, I was in
outside sales, and racked up 249,000 miles on the car by 2006. At that
time, I purchased a new Toyota, and gave the Subie to my daughter. It
now has 278,000 miles on it, and I fully expect it to go 300,000.
-------------------------------------

Likewise, our 1995 Honda Civic is very near to 300k, and runs fine.
They offered us nothing for it as a trade-in due to mileage, but it's never
had any major work of any kind and has never failed us. Brakes, tires,
timing belt every 75k... and a couple sensors along the way.

My first wife bought a Datsun B210 right before we married in '79, and it
was still running at over 300k when I lost track of it. Same deal, only
routine maintenance and regular oil and filter changes.

My 1980 Datsun 280ZX was still running great with 250k miles, when
I finally got tired of waiting for it to break down, and put a small block
in it.

"83LowRider" <nohopenoch (AT) nge (DOT) com> wrote

Those are all good experiences but they are not unique. Just about every
manufacturer can lay claim to those same performance stories. I've had many
GM products that went over 250,000 miles. When I got rid of them, I donated
them to charity and would later see the car(s) in daily use in the area.
Don't know, because I never inquired, but I'd be pretty certain some of
these clocked 300K. My cars always ran great when I got rid of them, were
in good to excellent condition body-wise, and never required major work to
keep them going.

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE (AT) windstream (DOT) net

"george9219" <george9219 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

On Oct 6, 2:06 pm, "RickyBobby" <nasca... (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote:
In 1998, I purchased a new Subaru Forester. At the time, I was in
outside sales, and racked up 249,000 miles on the car by 2006. At that
time, I purchased a new Toyota, and gave the Subie to my daughter. It
now has 278,000 miles on it, and I fully expect it to go 300,000.

I flat guarantee you that I am not unpatriotic, I am not anti-union, and I
love GM, Ford, and Chrysler about as much as anyone can who is not in the
car business. But when you got enough stories like yours and enough stories
about the self destructing Vega engine and the burst into a fireball piece
of junk Pinto it starts to add up and have an affect on car sales.

It does not take much to confuse me but I am still baffled how the same
corporations who made unquestionably the best pickups and big SUV's in the
world made about the worst cars in the world?

"Mike Marlow" wrote.

You are correct in that they are not unique.. that's why I posted. It was
unusual tho, for American cars of the late 70's/early 80's to achieve that
kind of mileage.